A Way With Words
by Niblet3
Summary: [Post PotC: DMC] Jack sends Elizabeth a letter on her wedding day, and makes her doubt her decision to marry Will. Oneshot. JackElizabeth.


Elizabeth sat in her bedroom on her second wedding day, seemingly happy. The smile could not be lifted from her face, she glowed, and every man that came in contact with her named William Turner the luckiest man on the earth. But, despite everything, Elizabeth felt a wave of sadness coming over her, a feeling that she couldn't push away.

She smoothed her dress down, the lace and satin feeling soft against her fingers. She looked like a princess and was being treated like one, but deep inside she felt trapped, like she was being pushed in the opposite direction with a piece of herself missing. She sighed, and looked up at herself in the mirror. She smiled sadly and ran her hands over her face, completely confused as to why she was feeling this was. Well... not completely. The image of her handsome Captain flashed into her mind. She shook her head, trying to shake him away, but he wouldn't budge. His crooked smile, his shining eyes, his perfect lips, his mustache that tickled her when she kissed him. She shook her head again, closing her eyes tightly.

"That's not the man you should be thinking of, Elizabeth," She said out loud, sighing once more. _We're not free yet, love._ She heard him whisper at the back of her mind. Supposedly, they had been freed since then. Jack had been rescued, the Pearl had been resurrected, and she and Will had reunited. She looked down at her hands in her lap, shaking. She didn't feel free.

"This is nonsense. You're just nervous, is all," She tried to convince herself; "It'll all be fine after the wedding." The wedding. Her wedding to William Turner. The man... she loved. The man she thought she loved. The man she once loved. Possibly. Maybe.

"Bugger," She said out loud. There was a soft knock on the door. Her dress rustled as she turned around.

"Yes?" She called, her heart beating faster for unnecessary reasons. Was it him? Was it Jack? Did he come to whisk her away? She blinked quickly a few times, trying to get these thoughts out of her head. A small female voice spoke back to her, crushing the thoughts.

"A letter for you, Miss Elizabeth," The girl called. Elizabeth sighed, moving her jaw back and forth.

"Come in..." Elizabeth said, getting up and walking towards the dressing table, picking up a brush and pretending like she had been doing something instead of sitting around and thinking of men she shouldn't have been. The mousey little woman opened up the door and walked over to Elizabeth, setting the letter down on the table, giving her a simple smile in the mirror. Elizabeth smiled back, not yet looking down. The woman exited and Elizabeth stopped the facade, putting the brush down loudly, loud enough to make herself cringe. Her hand had landed right next to the letter and she looked down at it. There her name was written in an elaborate manner that looked very familiar to her. She turned the letter over in her hands, breaking the seal and pulling out the piece of paper.

_My Dear Elizabeth,_

_I am writing to wish you a very happy wedding day, and I hope you and dear William will be happy together. A woman as beautiful and as passionate as you deserves to be treated right, and I hope that he is capable of that. Somewhere in the back of my mind I will always wonder what could have been, as it is very easy to envision you at my side on the deck of the Pearl, but that's something neither of us should be thinking of, now isn't it? I will not be attending the blessed event as I am hurrying out of port right before it is scheduled to begin. My apologies, on that account. There isn't much more I can say, other than I hope we can meet again one day. Sooner, rather than later. You have had an effect on me that I cannot explain, and everyday since that fateful kiss you gave me I have been wishing for more, but the opportunity for that has passed, as it seems. As foolish as it might be to say, my heart will always call out to yours, married woman or not. We are, and always will be, peas in a pod, just like I have said to you before. I doubt any other woman I happen to come across could ever be anything like you._

_All my love,_

_Captain Jack Sparrow._

Elizabeth was in shock. She stepped back a few paces, falling down upon the bed, the letter still gripped tightly in her hands. This was an event she did not expect. Everything was swirling around in her mind. Everything seemed suddenly different. Never in her life would she have thought Jack's feelings were this similar to hers. It would have been the only thing that would have stopped her from saying yes when Will proposed. Now that it has happened, extremely after the fact, Elizabeth had no idea what to do. But she knew exactly what she wanted to do. She wanted to follow her heart. And her heart was returning Jack's call.

A tear slid down her cheek, the thought of breaking Will's heart almost breaking hers. But her mind had already made itself up. It did so the second she realized the letter was from Jack. If she was to marry Will, she would be living a lie. Every moment they would spend together she would be longing for someone else. She couldn't do that to Will. She couldn't lie to him the whole life they were supposed to live together. The letter floated to the ground as she rushed out of the room.

She burst into his room without even knocking. He was looking at himself in the mirror and the second he saw her a worried expression came over his face. He turned around, and she leant against the door, shutting it.

"Elizabeth! What are you doing here? I thought it was bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding," He said, approaching her. She couldn't drag this out.

"Will, I can't marry you," She said quickly, closing her eyes at the crassness of the statement. She opened her eyes and looked at him, just staring down at the ground, his mouth forming into a straight line.

"Why's that?" He asked, his voice strained.

"I just... I... I love someone else," She said sadly.

"Jack?" Will asked right away. Elizabeth looked down and nodded her head. Will stepped forward a few steps and cupped her face in his hands, forcing her to look up at him. He was smiling slightly, but sadly.

"Elizabeth... " He said, sighing and looking down, trying to find the words. "Do you... do you really love him?" He asked. She nodded her head. "What does he think of this?" Will asked.

"He technically doesn't know yet. He just... sent me a letter... and it made me realize that... if I married you, all I'd be doing would be hurting you. He and I... we've always had his connection. I've always tried to deny it, of course, but... it's just... it's dug its way into me and planted itself as a permanent part of my being. He occupies my thoughts almost every moment of everyday. I've just never thought he... felt the same. But... now I know that... he does. And Will, if I married you... it wouldn't be right. I'm not the one for you, Will," She said, smiling sadly.

"Are you sure about that?" He asked, caressing her cheeks.

"Yes... yes. I'm sorry, Will." There was a moment of silence as she averted her eyes.

"Elizabeth," Will whispered. She looked up at him. "If you'll be happy with him, go to him." The tears were blurring her vision, and a smile snuck onto her face. She shook her head in disbelief, and then stepped forward, hugging him tightly.

"You'll find someone soon, darling, I know it. Someone whose right for you, who can give you the love you deserve," She said into his shoulder. He shook his head sadly, and then pulled away.

"But if I ever find out he's hurt you, I'm going to kill him, alright?" He said, never breaking his soft tone. She couldn't help but laugh.

"Alright, alright. Thank you so much, Will. I'll never forget this," She said, leaning in and kissing on the cheek.

"Yes, yes. Now go, before I change my mind," He said, looking down. She smiled at him again, reaching in and caressing his cheek one last time. She then turned and hurriedly opened the door, and ran quickly out into the hallway and down the stairs, heading for the docks.

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"Hurry up, gents, I want to get out of here before I hear those bloody church bells," Jack said, stumbling into his cabin and slamming shut the door. He walked over and sat in the chair by the bed, determined to sulk for the rest of the night. He felt the crew was taking entirely too long to ready the Pearl to leave. He didn't want to be anywhere near here when Elizabeth's wedding to that... whelp... began.

"You'll be fine without her, mate," He said, talking to himself, "You've never needed anyone, why would it be different now?" It was different now. He needed her. He sucked in a breath, throwing his head back and closing his eyes, letting the air out slowly. By the time he was done with this, he heard his cabin door open quietly. He wondered which member of the crew wasn't doing their duties and taking the time to come in here and bother him.

"Mr. Gibbs?" Was his first guess. A beautiful and familiar female voice responded.

"Not exactly," Elizabeth said, smiling to herself. Jack opened his eyes and saw her, upside-down from his point of view. He leaned back a bit trying to get a better view and fell backward in the chair, landing hard on the cabin floor. Elizabeth stepped forward until she stood over him. From this angle, she looked like an angel.

"Hello, Captain Sparrow," She said, smiling sweetly. She put out a hand and he took it, taking a moment to enjoy the smoothness of her skin. She pulled him to his feet and he looked down into her eyes, trying to guess her intentions. He stepped back and wiped himself off, looking away from her.

"What are you doing here, future Mrs. Turner?" He asked her, trying to keep his eyes away from her slender form enveloped in that dress of pure white.

"My pervious engagement was... called off," She said, throwing up her arms. He spun around, his eyes narrowed.

"Which of the double meanings applies to that statement?" He said quickly, approaching her. She puckered her lips slightly. "No more wedding or no more engagement?" He didn't care if they were practically the same thing.

"Both," She said. He stepped forward again, finally stopping just inches away from her face. She could smell rum on his breath, and the sea on his person. She smiled, looking him up and down.

"What are you getting at, Elizabeth?" He said seriously.

"I'm here for you, Jack," She said, looking up into his eyes. He cocked his head to the side.

"For... me?" He said, sounding confused.

"Your letter... it brought me here," She said, clasping her hands together in front of her. A look of knowledge came onto his face.

"Oh... the letter. Yes," He nodded his head, and then looked at her out of the corner of his eyes, trying to see if she was teasing him or being serious. "So it carried some weight with you, then?"

"It didn't have to. I've always... had feelings for you, Jack. I just never knew... about your feelings."

"My feelings? Oh, yes, my feelings. Yes, the feelings. I have them. Feelings. For you, I mean," He looked to the corner of the room, not exactly sure what he was saying. He nodded his head once, and then looked back at her, smiling. "Yes, I very much have feelings for you."

"And that... is why I'm here," She said, the corner of her lip twitching.

"You're... not... marrying..."

"I'm not marrying Will, no."

"Oh," Jack said singularly, looking off into the distance behind her and running his tongue over his teeth. The Pearl pulled away from port suddenly, pitching Elizabeth forward. Jack kept his stance and caught her as she fell into his arms. He drummed his fingers on her lower back instinctively, and rolled a piece of her hair around his finger with his other hand. She smiled, biting her lip.

"So you... have feelings for me?" He said, looking down at her.

"Actually, I love you," She said outright. He nodded his head once, his eyes widening. He spun her around and brought her back to her feet abruptly.

"Oh," He said, looking down. After a moment, he looked up quickly. "Yes, I love you, as well," He said, taking her face in his hands and pressing his lips to hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck, molding herself against him. They both pulled away, smiling against each other's lips.

"I have been waiting a long while to do that," He said, going in for another. After they pulled apart again, he looked her up and down. "Well, if you're going to be staying with me, we'll have to stop and get you some more clothes, won't we?" He said, trailing kisses down her neck. She laughed, his mustache tickling her. He pulled away and looked into her eyes, smiling at the entire situation he never thought would come about. She shook her head.

"I never knew you had such a way with words, Jack," She said.

"Oh, yes. You'll be learning a lot of things about me, love, in more areas than one," He said, kissing her again. Yes, she thought. This is where she was meant to be. Out at sea, with her beloved Captain Jack Sparrow.


End file.
